To not have a clue what I’m supposed to do re dentist?

[OuchyTooth]

Like many people, I no longer have an NHS dentist. Every few weeks I look on the NHS website and contact the ones which are allegedly accepting new NHS patients, but invariably when you phone them, they’re not.

So I haven’t seen a dentist for maybe a couple of years now. I have a tooth which had a root canal and a crown a few years ago, and it’s starting to niggle a bit. Not actually what I’d call painful at the moment, but I’m being careful to chew my food on the other side of my mouth so I don’t aggravate it.

What do I do when it comes to it, and it reaches crisis point? I am disabled and not in work at the moment, so have no spare money, literally zilch, so I can’t afford a private dentist. I’m entitled to free dental care on the NHS. Just want to have a plan in place as I can tell it’s going to be any day that I need to get it sorted.

Or if anyone knows of anywhere in Somerset/Bristol/Dorset/Bath/Wiltshire that really is accepting new patients please let me know!

What’s very strange is your unhelpful comment while OP is worried. She doesn’t need told, repeatedly, that it could cost £900 when she’s mentioned being out of work. She will be entitled to free dental care when she finds an NHS dentist.

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

Emergency dentist won't touch complex cases though. They then refer you and it can take weeks, even months to get seen.
I was in the worst pain I've ever felt and they wouldn't do it, told me 4 week wait. I couldn't get through a night. Went to a private one for £150.
I know you say you have no spare money. But your tooth is niggling. I'd put aside a 5er a week by giving something up or selling things online. Honestly, never want to be in that situation again.

You call 111 and ask for an emergency dental appointment. There are still emergency dental services running, there's also Bristol dental hospital but I imagine they are very busy with emergencies

Failing that you pay for an extraction

Its failing because root canals fail. It's been done by a specialist and perforations are a known risk of root canal.

I don’t think it will be £900, as from what she’s said it will need to come out. An extraction is much cheaper than a re-root canal.
It’s extremely unhelpful to tell someone that dentistry is free if you are on benefits, ignoring the fact that she’s said she can’t find an NHS option. It might make someone think that a private dentist won’t charge them because of those benefits which is obviously rubbish.
My friend owns a practice in Somerset and I know from speaking to them that there’s no NHS down there- he’s desperately trying to hand his contract back!
You sound angry that there’s no NHS or low cost option. This isn’t the fault of the dentists. Not noticed Keir Starmer changing the contract yet either to treble the UDA value and make NHS at all viable for practices.

I called 111 so many times and still had to go private and spend £340 😭

Emergency dentists near me prioritise those registered with them and tell you to call as soon as they open but then all the appointments are gone. I spent 6 months trying to get an emergency appointment before going private.

Dental Hospital in Brizzle

It’s all a bit of a shit show, isn’t it 😞. I’ll try the suggestions in this thread tomorrow, and if still no joy I guess I’ll start looking into dental insurance.

Only had the root canal less than 3 years so the crown should be good for a while longer. I bit into a burger a few weeks back and got a shooting pain there, and it hasn’t been right since then.

@HalfasleepChrisintheMorning
I agree, I was given the choice of my dentist taking it out and deal with the gap later, or be referred to an endodontist. I was able to afford the latter but if I'd been in a lot of pain I'd have had it out straight away. I don't think an ordinary dentist can do anything else.

Can you go to a private dentist for a check up and get a quote? Check ups are about £25 I think. They may be able to offer a payment plan for treatment.

Sorry, NHS dentistry is crap and dentists are pretty mercenary from what I can tell.

I was in a similar situation. In pain and absolutely no availability at my NHS dentist even for emergencies. I found out later that they had no dentist at all as he left. There used to be at least four at that practice.

I even went to A&E but they just told me to see my dentist.

101 were similarly helpful.

What’s very strange is your unhelpful comment while OP is worried. She doesn’t need told, repeatedly, that it could cost £900 when she’s mentioned being out of work. She will be entitled to free dental care when she finds an NHS dentist.

But she can't find one, that's the whole point. I couldn't find one either.

Everyone knows about the link you posted. It's no good if there are no dentists.

She will have to pay if she can't find an NHS dentist and has to go private.

I think some people seem to misunderstand things like Denplan insurance. I pay £20 a month but that just covers 2 check ups, any x-rays, 1 hygienist appointment (per year) and 20% off treatment costs. I still have to pay for treatment, had a £208 filling at the end of August! They assess your teeth and 'grade' them, mine aren't great to be honest. My Brother in Law has only ever had one filling in 40 years and he pays £40 something per month and his plan does include treatment but that's because he has strong and healthy teeth to begin with.

I am on disability benefits too but gave up trying to find a NHS dentist accepting new patients. It is a struggle to pay and I have to scrimp to save up. I really hope that you find an NHS dentist as I know how stressful and worrying it is going without dental care (I previously only went to a dentist when in pain and was fortunate that a relative paid for the treatment at the time).

Do you claim every benefit that you are entitled to? I'm in a similar situation and putting a claim in for PIP which technically I am entitled to but have never claimed as I've managed without it. Any PIP money I receive will actually go towards dental care. Yes, its playing the system a bit but what is the alternative? I have a bill each month now for my dentist that has recently gone private and I need a filing replaced which will cost £200 that I don't have. I have the letter saying that I'm entitled to free dentistry but there are no NHS dentists.

If you can’t get an NHS dentist could you look for a private dentist that offers 0% payment plans as a back up? Or see if you can get on a Denplan insurance scheme?
You have my sympathies - I’ve abandoned NHS dentistry because the quality of care was so poor and my private dentist doesn’t actually charge much more!

You can't get on Denplan until your teeth are OK and even then, like @Vates says, it covers the costs of check ups and hygiene visits and a percentage off your treatments. Mine is ten percent off.

The whole situation is absolutely awful. I've never been in so much pain when my tooth drama was happening. I tried everything to get an appointment.

PHONE 111.

There's an option for dentists now. Just ring them and see what they can do.

A check up at my local private place is £75. That's about the cheapest in the area.

I'm in Cornwall, we have a 4+ year wait list to see an NHS dentist, but you can phone 111 and get seen that way in an emergency.

There's two plans, mine covers all my treatment except lab fees

@Areolaborealis I do get PIP but only standard rate mobility, which is about £114 a month, so doesn’t really make much difference with everything being as expensive as it is now. Did a change of circumstances review earlier this year as I have got a lot worse since first awarded, and ended up with exactly the same award 😩

There's two plans, mine covers all my treatment except lab fees

Interesting. I wonder if I wasn't offered that because my teeth, well one tooth, was in such a disaster situation that I was like a bad bet. Like insuring a clapped out car.

Not necessarily, I've got a crown over a root canal tooth that's been there for 17 years and recently had another crown redone, again with a root canal, which I'd had for 34 years. It was still perfectly fine, the only reason I had it changed was for aesthetic reasons as my natural teeth had darkened slightly and the crown hadn't.

Apparently some dentists only offer the one plan, I found out when I was trying to change dentist!

My DNiece tried to get a dentist in her new area for her and toddler son. She checks regularly from our address, her address, and her mum's address and has yet to find anywhere. She did get emergency 111 treatment for an abscess but that wasn't easy either. She can't afford to pay monthly for private even though she works full time.